AFederal High Court in Abuja has ordered the Federal Government to arraign detained leader of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), Henry Okah and his accomplice, Edward Atatate in camera. It also said the order was in the interest of national security and safety of personnel.
Delivering her ruling, presiding judge, Justice Binta Murtala Nyako said the venue of the trial would be determined by the trial court and the parties involved in the matter, adding that the press would be restricted in the dissemination of the proceedings as shall be directed by the trial judge.
The Director of Public Prosecution of the Federation, S. Aliyu and counsel to the Federal Government, S. H. Barkum, had approached the court with an exparte application dated March 12, 2008, praying for an order for a leave to arraign the accused persons in camera and any other order the court deemed fit to make in the circumstances of the case.
Okah, who was extradited from Angola in January where he was arrested is accused of not only involved in the financing/ sponsorship of militant activities in the Niger Delta, but also responsible for the killing of foreign oil workers, security personnel and innocent persons and holding them hostage in the Niger Delta.
Similarly, he was accused of complicity in bank robberies, hiring of mercenaries and attempts to overthrow some governments in the sub-region as well as being responsible for the sourcing/purchasing of arms and ammunition and acquisition of surface to air missiles, with the intention to bring down aircraft in the region.
Government further accused him of promoting secessionist interest in the Niger Delta and had also carried out series of kidnappings, hostage taking and piracy, including acts of sabotage against vital installations across the country.
In a swift reaction, counsel to the accused persons, Mr. Femi Falana, has condemned the trial, saying that it was “totally unacceptable because it was deliberately designed to cover up their pre-meditated conviction.”
He also faulted the President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua administration of preaching the rule of law and perpetrated evil against its citizens. “This government that is always preaching rule of law cannot be allowed to take the country back to the stone age”, he exclaimed.
Falana noted that even under the dictatorship of former General Sani Abacha, the late environmentalist, Ken Saro-Wiwa and other Ogoni leaders were tried publicly before their judicial murder.
He said having accused Okah and Atatate publicly of treason and gun-running, the Nigerian state should bring its evidence to the open because we intend to use this trial to put the Federal Government on trial for crime against humanity as far as the Niger Delta is concerned.
“Having accused Okah and Atatate publicly of treason and gun-running, the Nigerian state should bring its evidence to the open because we intend to use this trial to put the Federal Government on trial for crime against humanity as far as the Niger Delta is concerned”, he said
Apr12008